second-guessing

present participle of second-guess

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for second-guessing
Verb
  • But the Senate is balking at that budget, leaving lawmakers far from agreement on a binding piece of legislation that can get 50 GOP votes.
    Max Tani, semafor.com, 22 July 2026
  • Montreal was one of the cities that pulled out of the process after balking at increasing cost estimates.
    Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
Verb
  • The update to Muse Spark beats out Google’s latest release of Gemini in benchmarks measuring coding and reasoning capabilities, according to the tech giant.
    Ben Weiss, Fortune, 9 July 2026
  • Judge Biggs largely agreed with Williamson that Ford should have known her counterclaims were without merit, reasoning that outlook became clear after the court held the five-year contract was void as a matter of law.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 9 July 2026
Verb
  • The grand jury subpoena was filed in April and was almost immediately met with resistance from Fulton County officials, who argued the request was overreaching and came from baseless claims of election fraud six years ago.
    Irene Wright, USA Today, 8 July 2026
  • In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party has opportunistically seized on air-conditioning, portraying it as an urgent quality-of-life issue that moralizing environmentalists and overreaching technocrats have ignored.
    Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026
Verb
  • At the same time, the number of attribution studies analyzing climate change’s role in extreme events has grown considerably, covering more types of extreme weather and climate events than a decade ago.
    Deepti Singh, The Conversation, 24 July 2026
  • The study, being conducted by Jarrett Walker and Associates, is expected to consider the system’s operations from the top down, analyzing and optimizing future routes.
    The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 24 July 2026
Verb
  • May built one of the most dominant teams in Big Ten history by outmaneuvering his peers in the transfer portal.
    Austin Meek, New York Times, 30 June 2026
  • Two generals agreed with Ashley's characterization, stressing the view that on the front lines, Ukraine was outmaneuvering Russia.
    Aidan Stretch, CBS News, 9 June 2026
Verb
  • Tyson said investigators are interviewing witnesses, reviewing security footage and coordinating with the Anson County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the office Tuesday after a confrontation between Helms and others.
    Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 25 July 2026
  • The device also features a small joystick, likely the 13th key, that can trigger reusable Codex Skills and common workflows such as debugging an error, reviewing a pull request, or refactoring code.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 25 July 2026
Verb
  • Selecting a college major is not an exercise in outsmarting the admissions system.
    Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
  • Mosquitoes just might be outsmarting us Mosquitoes may be beating us at our own game − by making repellent attractive.
    Robert Abitbol, USA Today, 13 June 2026
Verb
  • Focus, curated by María Elena Ortiz, features solo and duo presentations exploring how the Caribbean has long served as a nexus for diverse communities and a foundation for contemporary artistic discourse.
    News Desk, Artforum, 20 July 2026
  • Developers are exploring ways to run AI on classroom hardware or basic smartphones, allowing students and teachers to continue using these tools in rural schools, low-bandwidth environments, and the Global South.
    Ulrich Boser, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Second-guessing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second-guessing. Accessed 26 Jul. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster